Subtle Liberation
by Shujinkakusama
Summary: The Items are back in Japan, bringing with them the Ishtal family. When Yuugi moves in with them, can Malik behave himself? Post-series. Liberashipping for the YGO Fanfiction Contest.


**Pairing:** Liberashipping

**Prompt:** Yuugiou Fanfiction Contest Season 9.75, Round 5

**Word Count: **3,540

**Warnings:** It ran away from me. Post-series, AU. You'll probably notice my Irateshipping showing, too. Also some one-sided Wishshipping.

* * *

Within two years, the Items were back in Japan.

It had taken some convincing-more than 'some', really-but Isis ultimately decided that it was for the best. They were turning up in the marketplace, not long after an earthquake shook the Valley of the Kings with enough force to open up tombs and caverns no one had stepped foot in for centuries. Apart, and without the Dark Lord Zorc Necrophades to draw power from, they were likely harmless-

But the Items were drawn to each other, and the Ishtal family could only claim three at best.

The remaining four would have to go to the only other suitable bearers on Earth.

Yuugi hadn't argued, although he'd looked pale and discomfited at having to wear the Puzzle again, now that it was an empty shell-now that the Pharaoh's soul was long at rest, it was lighter, less _alive_ than he remembered it being-but he understood his duty, and he understood that he was the only one the Puzzle would ever accept.

Honda, for his part, hadn't minded when the Key chose him. It was relatively easy to protect compared to the Scales, which had gone to Rishid, and he was all too happy to find out that no one quite knew how to use it. Bobasa couldn't be found (and wouldn't _that_ have been convenient?), and really, the Ishtals didn't much trust him, anyway.

The Ring went back to Ryou-much to his chagrin-but no one had really expected anything less. He told Malik in a quiet whisper exactly what kinds of things the Ring had done before; climbing up his back when he left it in the other room, stabbing his torso with all five points to stay anchored, and all but begged him to find someone else. But the Item had made its choice; it glowed gold when he touched it, warm and ready, but did nothing else. At least it was harmless now, Malik tried to assure him, and the silver-haired teen had been beyond relieved when it _didn't_ stab him in greeting after he donned it, and even more relieved when the Item lay dormant against his chest.

Anzu was reluctant, but took the Eye, stashing it away in her purse with the rational that her job was to _guard_ it, not _use_ it. No one argued. No one particularly wanted to _use_ the accursed artifacts.

Jyounouchi was all too happy to have nothing to do with them. The last thing he wanted was to be mixed up in strange magic shenanigans again-even if he'd follow his friends to hell and back if the opportunity arose.

The Ishtal family packed their things and moved to Domino, and it wasn't long before Yuugi moved in with them. Their penthouse apartment was spacious and roomy, with spare bedrooms that Yuugi's friends sometimes came to stay in.

Yuugi roomed with Malik.

"I just… don't like sleeping alone," he admitted, and Malik didn't blame him. It had to be hard, after sharing every waking moment with someone else for so long, to be truly alone in both mind and body. The blonde didn't mind, and Rishid was all too happy to set up the bunk bed they picked out. It was a slice of modern normalcy that Malik was all too happy to try out.

To Isis' surprise in particular, Malik took to having a roommate very well-for him. He wasn't used to sharing, but Yuugi made it easy on him by being accommodative. When Malik needed the room to himself, he would draw the curtains over his half of the bed-the upper half-and Yuugi would either excuse himself or find something quiet to do.

If anything, the two teens helped one another as they struggled to adjust to the new reality of their lives as long-term bearers of the Millennium Items. The Items were dormant, but not without some power-as evidenced by the Eye literally following Anzu around the apartment one day after she'd accidentally left her purse, and it, behind on her way to work. The Ring still sometimes announced the other Items' presence, chiming and wiggling prongs that mercifully no longer buried themselves in Ryou's chest, and Rishid noted with dry amusement that the Scales sometimes tipped toward the door when shady museum representatives came calling on Isis.

But although the Puzzle was warm with magic, it was empty, and some days, that emptiness made it to Yuugi's eyes. It was impossible to miss; Malik spent much of his time watching Yuugi when they were in their bedroom, whether he realized it or not. There was just something fascinating about how _different_ the wild-haired teen was from other people. (Their other _friends_, Malik sometimes had to remind himself, because he still had trouble coming to terms with being accepted into Yuugi's friend circle, necessary or otherwise.)

"Yuugi. Yuuuuu'," Malik called, leaning down to peek through the half-drawn curtains around Yuugi's half of the bed. "Earth to Yuugi-you're staring at the wall again."

"Ehh?" Yuugi's wide amethyst eyes turned upwards to meet his, startled. At least he didn't look _sad,_ though. The more Malik saw that, the more he wanted to do something about it. "Ma-kun, what's up…?"

"You're staring at nothing," Malik said again, reaching down with only the slightest trace of hesitation to muss the older boy's bangs. Yuugi ducked away, but he was smiling, and that made it worth the awkwardness that came with physical contact with anyone other than Rishid. The blonde grinned. "We should go somewhere. Just you and me."

The little King of Games matched his grin with a smaller one of his own. "Where did you have in mind?" he asked, trying in vain to put his bangs back in their proper style without a mirror. He didn't get very far, and Malik's wolfish grin widened. He looked _better_ without the style the Pharaoh had shared with him.

"Since you're already staring at things, we could go for a movie," Malik suggested hopefully, even though he really had very little interest in the big screen. It was fascinating, but until movies started coming in Solid Vision, he didn't think he'd have more than a passing fancy.

Yuugi agreed readily, but insisted on fixing his hair before going out-which gave Malik ample time to change into something more date appropriate than the sweatpants and tank-top he so often wore around the house.

Unfortunately, Yuugi was oblivious.

* * *

"I'm telling you, it's like I'm sending all the wrong signals," Malik complained loudly, slouching uncomfortably in his seat at Burger World. Jyounouchi Katsuya was across from him, happily munching on fries and probably enjoying Malik's very normal problems-after all, it wasn't every day that he was the resident expert on something one of his friends was caught up in.

Even if that 'something' was being a romantic dud.

Malik was still ranting, and Jyounouchi listened more out of amusement than real interest. He was rambling on about how he'd dressed up, just like Jyounouchi told him to; he had offered to pay for everything, but the mystery girl had ended up buying her own snacks. They'd sat together, she'd borrowed his jacket, and beyond that, absolutely nothing had happened.

"-Jyounouchi, you're gay, help me out here!"

Jyounouchi didn't think his jaw had ever clenched so quickly.

For that matter, he'd never gotten up so fast, or grabbed someone by the collar in under five seconds. Malik was lucky they were in public-otherwise, his fist would've been permanently imbedded in his face.

"_What did you just say_?!"

For once, Malik looked genuinely caught off guard-and not the fake way 'Namu' had during Battle City, either. "What-It's not like you were subtle!" Malik squeaked, wide-eyed, but prepared to stand his ground. Even if Jyounouchi was considerably stronger than he was (damn him), he wasn't about to back down. "I've been in your head, Jyou!"

That probably wasn't the right thing to say.

But at least it was honest.

Jyounouchi didn't release his collar, but his eyes flicked downward, toward the Rod-which was propped against the wall next to Malik's seat. The fair-haired Egyptian raised his hands in a gesture of appeal, and after a long moment, Jyounouchi finally let him go. He sat back down uneasily.

"I'm pretty sure we agreed to _never_ talk about that again," Jyounouchi grit out, and Malik winced. It was true-even if it was technically something of an _unspoken_ agreement.

"I'm sorry."

"Forget it," Jyounouchi huffed in a tone that plainly said that _he_ wouldn't be forgetting it anytime soon. "And forget whatever you fished outa my head, too! Shit, Malik, it's not something you just _tell people_."

Malik bit his lower lip hard enough to bruise, averting his gaze. "I figured, since you're the only one I know who's like that…" he started, trailing off miserably. He had his suspicions about Ryou, of course, but the silver-haired teen was hard to read. Some of that had to be the Ring Spirit's influence, but Malik hadn't gotten close enough to the other boy to know for sure.

Jyounouchi was easy to get close to, but made about as little sense sometimes as Anzu did.

Like right now.

"I never said I was like that," Jyounouchi cut in, frowning deeply.

Malik sighed, pushing his bangs out of his eyes. "Right. You never said, but you and Yuugi were pretty _blatant_. Just sayin'," Malik said, "Besides, it's not like anything's wrong with it."

From the discomfited look on the older blonde's face, Malik couldn't help wondering if there _was_ something wrong with it.

When Jyounouchi finally spoke, his voice was low, and Malik had to lean in to hear him properly over the sounds of other patrons in the restaurant. "Look… I'll give you the benefit of the doubt," he said slowly-grudgingly. Malik winced a little. So much for the trust he'd built up with the older male. "But you can't just blurt that kind of shit out in public. Jeeze. Nobody-I mean _nobody_-knows about that!"

For a moment, Malik said nothing. 'Nobody' obviously meant Honda, who probably _did_ know more than he let on, and certainly Ryou and Otogi. But…

"You mean you never told Yuu'?" he asked, surprised. "I thought for sure, after…"

Jyounouchi scowled, looking away. "He's not into me," he said, cutting Malik off. "It wasn't like that." A pause. Malik had worried about that, but hadn't been sure of how to address it. And on Jyounouchi's part, the cogs in his head seemed to be realigning themselves.

Then, suddenly, Jyounouchi asked; "Wait, what's this have to do with your not-girlfriend?"

Malik felt color flood his cheeks. He'd hoped Jyounouchi would forget that part of the conversation once things started going horribly wrong. But his luck had never been that good.

He took a deep breath and explained everything from the beginning.

* * *

In the end, Jyounouchi hadn't been able to give him much advice. Yuugi had a longstanding crush on Anzu, but had always struck him as being at least marginally interested in the same sex when they were watching porn together-an activity that still baffled Malik, and he was all too happy not to be included in it.

For weeks, very little changed between them; Yuugi was still clueless, and Malik begrudgingly let him stay that way. It wasn't as if he knew the first thing about dating, and beyond Jyounouchi's advice (very little of which came from personal experience), he didn't have much to go off of. Subtlety was too subtle, and despite his usual bravado, Malik simply couldn't find his voice when he had the mind to be _blunt_ about it.

The worst that could happen, Jyounouchi told him, was that Yuugi could turn him down-but living together, that could turn out very messy, very quickly. Malik hadn't thought of that.

Really, Malik hadn't thought much beyond the possibility of Yuugi saying yes at all. Everything after that was foreign territory.

But at the end of the day, they were roommates-and that was _something_. Whatever they had miraculously included staying up late and talking about everything and nothing. They ate together, slept together, and on rare occasions, Malik snuck glimpses of Yuugi in various stages of undress. Going to the movies became a near-weekly tradition, and when there weren't movies worth seeing, they went to the arcade together.

He didn't see how different this was from 'dating.'

Yuugi confided in him where he couldn't with his other friends. Malik didn't think the others really appreciated just how devastating losing the Pharaoh's spirit had been. Ryou might have understood, if he and Yuugi ever had the chance to really talk about it-but Yuugi shied away from the topic outside of the house. He talked with Isis, sometimes, and Rishid when he needed reassurance that he'd done the right thing, but most of the time, he talked to Malik.

After all, Malik had lost his guiding star, too.

"It's not that I wish he couldn't move on," Yuugi explained late at night, when both he and Malik should have been asleep. Malik rolled over to listen better, half asleep. He didn't interject, and Yuugi continued. "I'm glad he did. I know how much he wanted to. I just…"

Despite himself, Malik yawned. It had to be at least three o'clock in the morning.

"You just miss him," Malik finished for him, without resentment in his voice. It was hard to resent someone Yuugi made sound so human and flawed. The Pharaoh was an idea-intangible by necessity, the way the boogieman didn't really exist-and Yuugi's darker half was as much a part of Yuugi as he was his own person. He was real, and human, and flawed just like everyone else. Their souls had been bound together much the way that identical twins tended to overlap in all the right areas.

Malik understood that, because Yami no Malik had been a part of him, too.

"I'm sorry," Yuugi said abruptly. "You must hate me talking about this so much, Ma-kun."

"I don't hate anything about you, Yuu'," Malik said, sighing faintly up at the ceiling. "I like you too much for that."

It was funny how easy it was to say that much, without actually saying what he wanted to.

No wonder Yuugi didn't get it.

* * *

Nightmares were a common staple in the Ishtal-Mutou household. All four regular residents had their fair share of traumatic experiences, and while Isis and Rishid took to weathering their storms alone, Malik and Yuugi relied heavily on each other to sleep easily at night.

Most nights, Yuugi's dreams would wake him without a sound. Shooting bolt upright in bed, drenched in sweat, he'd try to match Malik's breathing to lull himself back to sleep. It was enough knowing that someone else was in the room with him-someone who understood.

Malik wasn't quite so lucky.

The fair-haired Egyptian sometimes talked in his sleep, but more often, he cried out loudly enough to wake his roommate. Some nights, Yuugi would climb up his ladder to wake him, before the nightmares got too bad-some nights, when the King of Games didn't quite wake up in time, he would lie awake listening until Malik calmed down on his own. Most of the time, Malik would call out to him, and Yuugi would talk him down from the panic, reassuring him that the past was far behind him, and that the monsters in his dreams were dead and gone.

Some nights, the monsters weren't the only problem.

"Yuu'-no! _No_!"

"Mm, Ma-kun… don' worry…" Yuugi mumbled sleepily, rolling over and pressing his face into the pillow.

"Yuugi…!"

Amethyst eyes fluttered open slowly, but when his roommate's voice reached his ears again-this time choked by a pillow-muffled sob-Yuugi scrambled up and into a sitting position. "Ma-kun?"

When he peeked his head over the edge of Malik's bed, he was rewarded with the sight of his roommate, curled in a ball, with his fists clenched close to his closed eyes. Malik's breath was ragged, and most of what he was mumbling was in a mixture of broken Arabic and one of the dead tongues he'd no doubt learned growing up underground, but Yuugi's name was easy to pick out.

"Ma-kun, it's okay," Yuugi said quickly, reaching out with some hesitation to squeeze his shoulder. Sometimes-not very often-Malik flailed in his sleep; Yuugi knew from experience that being on the receiving end of the blonde's thrashing only ended in more tears. Malik hadn't forgiven himself for a full week after clocking him in the eye, one time.

But the contact usually helped snap him out of it, and Yuugi settled for crawling closer when his efforts weren't met with a fist to the face. Malik's half of the bunk bed was slightly more narrow than his; the beds were arranged so that he could stand at the edge of his and peek over at the blonde from below, and to allow the ladder to rest at an easy angle for climbing.

Malik was wrapped tightly in his blankets, a byproduct of thrashing due to his nightmares, and Yuugi pulled the comforter down to get a glimpse of Malik's face. He'd been crying-still was-and the younger teen shied away from the cold air of their bedroom.

"No…! _Sister_!"

"Ma-kun, it's _me_!" Yuugi said, shaking his shoulder gently. "It's Yuugi. You're having a bad dream!"

Malik's lavender eyes snapped open, but the terror from the dream stayed with him, and he gasped for air like a drowning man.

And very suddenly pulled Yuugi down to him.

Yuugi didn't quite crumple-he stiffened reflexively and almost pushed Malik away, but the blonde was stronger and more desperate-but in the end, he lay awkwardly against his friend, who was still shaking from his nightmare. "Malik!" Yuugi squeaked, startled and somewhat uncomfortable with his newfound position. He could hear Malik's heart thundering double time against his ribcage.

"Don't go," Malik whispered, voice shaken. He tightened his grip on Yuugi's shoulders, almost painfully, and Yuugi winced.

"I'm not going anywhere," he assured him, "Really… You were having a dream. Everything's okay."

"He took you away from me," Malik said at length, voice low, haunted by the memory of the dream. Yuugi didn't need to ask who 'he' was; there was only ever one nameless person that plagued his friend's dreams. "You and Sister, Rishid… Papa… he took you all."

Yuugi didn't want to know the details-from the way Malik's arms were shaking, and the way he hadn't yet tried to wipe the tears from his face, they had to be ugly-but he automatically murmured reassurances until Malik loosened his grip. Still, Yuugi didn't bother moving away.

"I'm still here," Yuugi said, giving Malik's shoulders a reassuring squeeze each. The blonde squeezed back, burying his face in Yuugi's wild hair. "I'm not going anywhere, either."

"I know," Malik breathed, close to his ear. Yuugi tried not to squirm where he lay. It tickled. "'M so glad, Yuu'… I don't know what I'd do if you were gone."

Some nights, Malik said things like that, and Yuugi didn't entirely know what to say back. "Me too," came easily enough, but Yuugi _did_ know. Losing Malik would be like losing Atem had been, on a slightly lesser scale-just like losing any one of his friends would be devastating. He knew that it would leave a gaping hole in his heart, one that no amount of smiling and joking around with other people he loved would fill.

But Yuugi was too perceptive not to know that Malik meant something else.

Malik wasn't subtle, and Yuugi wasn't blind. But the teen was immensely grateful that the other wasn't pushing the subject.

He wondered if Malik knew that.

After a long while of just laying like that-half crouched, half leaning against Malik's chest-Yuugi shifted, pushing himself back into a seated position. He didn't miss the look of longing in Malik's puffy eyes, even in the dark, but he was starting to stiffen up. Turning produced a loud cracking noise from his spine that made them both wince, and Yuugi leaned back a little to let Malik sit up. "Do you need a tissue?"

"'M okay," Malik said, scrubbing the last of the dampness from his cheeks. "Thanks, Yuu'. For putting up with me."

"It's not 'putting up with'," Yuugi scolded him, even though this part was practically routine. "I'm glad I can be here for you, Ma-kun… And you've done the same for me." Malik nodded, though barely, and pushed his hair out of his eyes. Yuugi knew that gesture-knew the question that came after it before Malik could ask, and he added, "I'll stay up with you until you feel better. How's that?"

"Have I mentioned lately that I think I love you?" Malik tried to tease, and Yuugi reached out to pat him on the arm. Not subtle.

"Not lately," Yuugi said, smiling up at his friend. "But it's nice to hear."


End file.
